Re-launched European Le Mans Series in strong shape

Run over two-day weekends, the 3-hour races were extended to 4 hours while free practice sessions were also added to offer drivers more time to set up their cars and learn tracks. While in 2013 the European Le Mans Series shared its race weekends with other major series and had to put on its show on Saturdays, it became the headline event in 2014 and demonstrated the best of endurance racing to visitors on Sundays.

This new race format has been very successful with teams and drivers, as well as with enthusiastic endurance racing fans in the five countries visited this year – England, Italy, Austria, France and Portugal. 

Split across three classes, 150 drivers and no fewer than 45 cars representing 11 different countries took part in the 2014 European Le Mans Series season.  Eleven teams and 43 drivers were entered in the top LMP2 class, 16 teams and 49 drivers took to the track together in LMGTE, and 18 cars driven by 58 competitors battled it out in GTC. In each of the categories represented, the hunt for the European Championship titles raged right through to the final laps of the season’s final race.

 LMP2 – Title chases to the end

The expectations of all the LMP2 teams, drivers and spectators were more than met this season. Indeed, the five races run in five countries were won by five different cars.

Silverstone Winner

Thiriet by TDS Racing and its drivers Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey and Tristan Gommendy were first to chalk up a victory at Silverstone’s circuit with its Morgan-Nissan.  The first race of the season took place alongside the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.  The Montpellier team broke new ground during the season and introduced the only LMP2 closed prototype, the Ligier JS P2. A victim of teething problems, the French trio finished the second race of the season in 5th place, but would not go on to achieve better results. Thiriet by TDS Racing had fought for victory in 2013, but ended the 2014 season 7th overall, a very disappointing outcome for team manager Xavier Combet. Season result – 7th

Imola Winner

Held on Italian soil at the Autodromo d’Imola, the second round was won by the British JOTA Sport team, its Zytek Z11 SN Nissan driven by Simon Dolan, youngster Harry Tincknell and Portuguese Filipe Albuquerque. After having set the first pole position of the season, the team was stopped in its tracks by a spectacular collision with another car.  However, four further pole positions put them back in the game and the British-Portuguese trio claimed three podiums (1st at Imola, 2nd at Red Bull Ring and 3rd at Estoril) and 4th place at the Paul Ricard circuit for the penultimate race of the season. After a relentless battle for the 2014 championship title, JOTA Sport had to settle for the runner-up spot, one better than its 2013 season result. “New kid on the block” Harry Tincknell received the Rookie Cup at the prize giving ceremony at Estoril.  Season result – 2nd

Red Bull Ring Winner

With its 2013 LMP2 championship title under its belt, the French Signatech Alpine team began its second season as the team to beat. However, its first win of the season wasn’t to come until the third round at the fabulous Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria. Nelson Panciatici, Paul-Loup Chatin and Oliver Webb finished 5th at Silverstone and mounted the 3rd step of the podium at Imola. On home turf at Paul Ricard the Alpine A450b took 2nd and finished 5th in Portugal after a gruelling race. But consistency paid off, and points from each event meant that Philippe Sinault’s team kept hold of the trophy. For the second consecutive year Signatech Alpine can celebrate a great season while brandishing its new Championship trophy.  Season result – 1st

Paul Ricard Winner

NewBlood by Morand Racing secured the fourth win of the 2014 season at the Paul Ricard circuit. Consistent and competitive, the Swiss team began its season with 3rd place at Silverstone, but the trio of Christian Klien, Gary Hirsch and Roman Brandela was forced to retire at Imola (due to a mechanical issue) despite a superb race. Encouraged and supported by the Austrian spectators, Christian Klien, alongside Gary Hirsch and team newcomer Pierre Ragues, performed excellently but the Franco-Swiss-Austrian trio suffered several set-backs and the Morgan Judd took points for 5th place. Not deterred, Benoît Morand’s team had ambitions and did everything in its power to claim the top step of the podium at Le Castellet. Still mathematically in with a shot of the title going into the final round at Estoril, the team performed well and climbed onto the third step of the Portuguese podium. NewBlood by Morand Racing finished the 2014 season in third place, and Benoît Morand was presented with the “Man of the Year” trophy at the awards evening.  Season result – 3rd

Winner in Estoril

The fifth and final race of the season would be won by a newcomer to the ELMS family: Sébastien Loeb Racing. The ORECA 03 Nissan was ideal for the team’s young bloods throughout the season and, in addition to Vincent Capillaire who was with the team all year, it played host to Czech Jan Charouz (Imola and Silverstone), Italian Andrea Roda and Frenchman Arthur Pic at Paul Ricard, and Swede Jimmy Eriksson at Portugal. Having withdrawn from the Red Bull Ring round, Sébastien Loeb Racing finished its first ELMS season in 4th place overall, with 7th at Silverstone, 3rd at Imola, 6th at Paul Ricard, but victory in Portugal. Season result – 4th

While these five different victories demonstrated the quality of the LMP2 grid in 2014, there are no fewer than six other teams which contributed greatly to the on-track show.

Race Performance fielded an ORECA 03 Judd this year, driven by team owner Michael Frey (who received the trophy for Best Gentleman Driver of the year) and Frenchman Franck Mailleux. Consistent throughout the season, the French-Swiss duo got two podiums this year (2nd at Silverstone, 3rd at Red Bull Ring) and scored points in every race. The team was still one of the title challengers on arrival at Estoril and finished the season just off the podium, but 5th overall in the final standings. Season result – 5th

The British Greaves Motorsport team fielded two LMP2 cars throughout the 2014 season.  The Zytek Z11 SN Nissans were driven by the youngest driver ever to have participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, American Matt McMurry, Tom Kimber-Smith and Chris Dyson.  The latter two were both involved in the scheme fostered by Greaves to find and train up-and-coming talent and put their knowledge to good use (car No.41).  For the Red Bull Ring, the team had with them US-based South African Mark Patterson, and at Paul Ricard Matt was joined by the 2013 LMGTE Champion Johnny Mowlem. For the last race of the season, the British opened its doors to Nissan GT Academy winner Miguel Faisca and Briton James Fletcher. Having passed on the Italian round and not finished the Portuguese, the team’s No.28 entry finished the season in 8th place overall with six drivers: James Littlejohn, Anthony Wells, James Walker, Mark Shulzhitskiy and Luciano Bacheta.  Season result -6th

The Irish Murphy Prototypes team was less consistent this year, but nevertheless set pole position for the race at Paul Ricard thanks to Frenchman Nathanaël Berthon who had already shown his teeth during official testing back in April. The No.48 ORECA 03R Nissan clocked up 28 points this season, of which 16 were from the French round (pole plus 3rd place). Alongside the Frenchman, Brazilian Pipo Derani contributed greatly to these points, but a lack of budget led the team to miss the Austrian race and it therefore lost a vital opportunity to score enough points to do better in the final rankings. James Littlejohn, Anthony Wells, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Alex Kapadia and Karun Chandhok have all taken the wheel of the car on one or another of the 2014 rounds.  Season result – 9th

At Pegasus Racing, the 2014 season signalled its return to endurance racing for the first time since 2011. With its blue No.29 Morgan Nissan, Julien Schell, Nicki Leutwiler and Jonathan Coleman put the team back on track, literally and figuratively, and it finished its first ELMS season 10th in the final classifications.  Season result – 10th

Larbre Compétition competed in only one round of the ELMS and is therefore last in the 2014 overall standings.  Season result – 11th

LMP2 – ELMS 2014 Season

1.              Signatech Alpine : 78 points

2.              JOTA Sport : 74 points 

3.              NewBlood by Morand Racing : 68 points

4.              Sébastien Loeb Racing : 57 points

5.              Race Performance : 57 points

6.              Greaves Motorsport (41): 38 points

7.              Thiriet by TDS Racing : 35 points

8.              Greaves Motorsport (28) : 30 points

9.              Murphy Prototypes : 28 points

10.          Pegasus Racing : 18 points

11.          Larbre Competition : 2 points